Magpie Games Announces Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game

Magpie Games will release Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game based on the narrative browser-based game from Failbetter Games. The game will use a proprietary game system currently in development by Magpie which will allow players to “create their own characters drawing on the factions, archetypes, and settings of the city – cutthroats, socialites, radicals, academics, and other, stranger creatures.”

The launch line-up in 2025 will include Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game, the supplement Secrets of the Neath, a custom dice pack, and gamemaster screen. More details will be announced on a live stream on August 23.

Fallen London is a browser-based narrative game released in 2009 about a version of Victorian London which was stolen into a vast cavern beneath the earth called the Neath. The spinoff games Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies are both set in the same universe.

A previous tabletop RPG based on the franchise, Skyfarer, was released for free on the company’s website in 2018. It is not currently available from the Failbetter Games website, but the Grant Howitt and Chris Taylor RPG is available via the Wayback Machine.

 

[BovineofWar]

“create their own characters drawing on the factions, archetypes, and settings of the city – cutthroats, socialites, radicals, academics, and other, stranger creatures.”

I'm excited by this game, but I hope this doesn't translate into yet another PbtA-style game. Nothing wrong with that, except that it's pretty hard to make a product better than Blades in the Dark, and this sounds like Blades in the Dark...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I get to play Gerard Butler!

 

[Simlasa]

I doubt I'll want it for its mechanics... but if it can stand as a sourcebook on the setting then I'm sure to purchase it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

.

 

[ruemere]

Played the Sunless Skies, loved the atmosphere but disliked the design.

You're captain of a locomotive that flies through night/void/space. You have Victorian sensibilities, looming threat of insufficient resources, people going insane, missions and a map that cannot be trusted.

Unfortunately, the economic aspect of the game is what killed it for me. It's hard to explore and have fun when random pirates and dwindling resources take most of your time. I ran out of patience when being unable to find my destination I lost my locomotive... I know that maybe having an upgraded model was the answer but, that's not what I was looking for.

Still, the game was nice. Just not my cup of tea.

Sunless Skies - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[ProfessorDetective]

I'm excited by this game, but I hope this doesn't translate into yet another PbtA-style game. Nothing wrong with that, except that it's pretty hard to make a product better than Blades in the Dark, and this sounds like Blades in the Dark...

I was theorizing on Failbetter's own forums years ago that Fate Accelerated might be a decent system for FL. My main argument being that FL the browser game basically runs on Approaches, already (Shadowy, Watchful, Dangerous, and Persuasive, specifically). Come up with a big "The Adjective Occupation" (example: The Investigative Academic) table and the game starts designing itself.

But, going from the post, they might going for something more bespoke for this. As long as the dice aren't proprietary and it doesn't require specific card or something, I'll give it a shot. I got in around 2010-2012 and own most of their downloadable releases, I'm willing to give Failbetter a chance.

 

[aramis erak]

But, going from the post, they might going for something more bespoke for this. As long as the dice aren't proprietary and it doesn't require specific card or something,

Custom decks now that PoD is a thing are far less onerous than custom dice... excepting for licensed IP when included, where they're still quite onerous. (I'd love to see a PoD deck for the TSR Saga system Marvel... or, for that matter, Dragonlance Fifth Age. Even if it's art free and deletes the character names from them.)

Expect to see more and more, however, as tooling costs for custom dice are going down and the custom cards are much cheaper than they used to be as offset now is print-to-plate for foil plate...

And monetization of Cards and Dice is far more reliable in the era of rampant IP violations ("piracy") than books, since most printing is outsourced and often leads to original send to print house PDFs being leaked. (The printer PDF of D&D 4e was released a day BEFORE the dead tree was embargoed for... with the margins and alignment targets still set for printing.)

 

[Golden Bee]

2025 release? I better clear my 2027 calendar (to ask when they'll finish it!)

 

[Anon Adderlan]

Cards actually make far more sense than dice for this game, so I'm slightly disappointed they've decided to go with the latter. Not that that matters as the ideological bent of both companies involved are doing a damn fine job of alienating me as a customer.